So after a long day, here are the questions for Qld

THE Queensland Plan will cost $4.6 million to develop but so far delegates at an all-day summit have come up with just the questions they want answered.

And according to Premier Campbell Newman the $1 per Queenslander cost will be money well spent, particularly for regional Queensland.

Mr Newman said he was surprised the inner-city Brisbane delegates he brought saw The Queensland Plan as an opportunity to grow the regions.

"They were asking how could we encourage the cities and towns outside south-east Queensland to grow and how can we really continue to decentralise Queensland but make it a strong state as a result," he said.

With butchers paper and textas at the ready, 450 people from all around the state began posing questions they could take back to their communities.

Tacking them onto boards around a huge room at the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre, delegates could draw inspiration from those around them, not just their own tables.

After putting a spot next to their favourites, here's what today's summit came down to:

QUEENSLAND'S questions revealed

LIVING IN MY COMMUNITY
In the context of living in the community, how do we move our focus from me to we?

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
How do we create and foster an education culture that teaches skills and values to meet the global challenges and optimises regional strengths

HEALTHY AND ACTIVE

How do we empower and educate individuals, communities and institutions to embrace responsibility for an active and healthy lifestyle.

JOBS, PARTICIPATING AND THE ECONOMY

How do we structure our economy to ensure our children inherit a resilient future?

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES

How do we strengthen our economic future and achieve sustainable landscapes?

WILDCARD

How do we attract and retain the brightest minds and ideas where they are most needed and capitalise on global opportunities

Bundaberg asked how they could "generate the finances and expertise to attract diverse futuristic industry/activities to our region".

The Bundama team asked: "Can we ensure everyone has affordable and appropriate housing across their life course?".

Ipswich West asked: "What are we going to sell to the world, while capitalizing on global and economic opportunity?".

Caloundra asked how Queenslanders could live the healthiest life possible while Mirani questioned how to transition from labour intensive to robotic industries while sustaining social capital and connected communities.

The Whitsundays team asked how it could increase economic growth while conserving the natural environment.

Gladstone asked how to equip future generations to trade in a global economy.

Mr Newman said the $4.6 million to run the summits was "serious money" but it ensured all Queenslanders could be represented, regardless of their economic circumstances and geographical location.

"Every electorate is different. Some are inner-city electorates that are small and compact, relatively homogeneous communities," he said.

"Some of them, like the Mirani electorate represented by Ted Malone from the southern suburbs of Mackay to the northern suburbs of Rockhampton, cover a large area geographically, covering many small and large areas.

"So there'll be different consultations taken in different parts of the state."

After posing the questions at the Mackay summit today, the delegates will return to their 89 electorates to engage their communities to discuss the 30-year vision and how to achieve it.

Mr Newman said they would regroup for another two-day summit in October in Brisbane to fuse all the ideas together.

He said he planned to present that final document to parliament and hoped all politicians would adopt it.

Mr Newman said not only could governments develop future policy around the plan but it would become useful to help businesses, non-government organisations, churches and other groups to plan their futures too.

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was concerned about the cost but she was here with an open mind.

She said she had spent the past week travelling the northern regions and the clear message was concern over cuts to health, school closures and jobs.

"There's a lot of people here from all over the state and so far they haven't really had the opportunity to have their say," she said.

"I hope they don't go away disappointed.

"It is a lot of money, $4.5 million plus $1 million on advertising, especially when you're seeing cuts to essential services.

"Taxpayers want to see something in return at the end of the day."

There were also "wild-card" questions posed with a more global viewpoint.

How can we more effectively manage our waste materials to enhance community respect and pride?

How do we balance virtual and authentic relationships in the community?

Hopper questions costs of Queensland summit in Mackay

QUEENSLAND MP Ray Hopper has this afternoon clarified the statement he made earlier today that the Mackay summit cost up to $4 million.

He said the workshop actually cost between $300,000 to $400,000 and the entire Queensland Plan would cost between $4 and $5 million.

"It was positive today," Mr Hopper said.

"Let's just make it work."

Earlier, the Member for Condamine was still questioning his decision not to boycott the summit this morning before it began.

The Katter's Australia Party MP said something better come out of the gathering of Queensland's MPs and more than 400 guests from across Queensland.

Mr Hopper said rather than spending money on a workshop to brainstorm how to communicate with the community about Queensland's 30 year plan, the Government could have used the money to save two schools in his electorate which are set to be shut down - Wyreema State School and Charlton State School.

"This is tax-payers' money being used," Mr Hopper said.

"Let's make sure this works. Otherwise let's go keep one of my schools open for another 10 years. Wyreema is a growth area."

Mr Hopper revealed that he only came to the summit because the Premier's office called and told him he was the only MP not going.

Mr Hopper was upset by the claim, as embattled MP Scott Driscoll did not attend the summit.

But he added someone had to keep the Newman government honest.

"They've got a massive majority, they need to be held to account," Mr Hopper said.

Newman challenges us to think of Queensland in 30 years' time

THIRTY years ago Premier Campbell Newman had more hair, people "smoked like chimneys" on planes and in restaurants, and IBM was just about to launch the first PC.

"The first moves to end the carnage of our roads through drink-driving were only cranking up and we didn't have random breath testing here in Queensland," Mr Newman quipped during his opening address to The Queensland Plan summit in Mackay.

"What we have to do today is transport ourselves forward 30 years into the future, leave behind the day to day, the current concerns and prejudices, views and try and go forward and think about the Queensland of 30 years time.

"To do that we're going to be aided by looking at the actual mega trends of the future, looking at some of those things perhaps behind our control."

CSIRO principal scientist Stefan Hajkowicz said the megatrends set to change the way Queenslanders live would hopefully help spark debate and get summit participants thinking into the future.

He said these shifts in the global environment would play out over the next 20 years economically, socially and environmentally.

"This is an amazing process we're about to embark on," he said.

"We're starting with a blank page and getting all these people to ask what the future of Queensland is going to be in 30 years.

"My role is to try and set the scene today with analytical and evidence-based thinking about future trends that are going to impact us - it's environment, social, political, technical, economic.

Mr Hajkowicz said Queenslanders needed to think about resource scarcity - the declining availability of water, food, energy and mineral resources - which would affect the Queensland economy.

He said they also needed to think about precarious position of the world's biodiversity "where the coming decades will set the scene for the coming millennia".

Mr Hajkowicz said the new "silk highway" would result in the repositioning of the world economy as the China and India economies grew so quickly.

"We're going to drag the whole world economy away from Europe and the United States towards China and India," he said.

"That is going to totally change how everything works, new markets for Australia to play in and new competition for us to."

Mr Newman said participants must consider those trends and think about how they would "shape our state, how we can adapt and evolve".

He said they could then "fuse all that input in a very comprehensive way".

"It is very exciting that we have a diverse group of people from across Queensland to do something that is incredibly special," he said.

"It is a plan that is not about the politics of today.

"If you ask me what the key test is of this exercise, it's that this plan will survive changes of government.

"It is for many years the document that governments the work of state government departments, business, non-government organisations and indeed people in everyday life.